The Librem 5 USA phone is made in the US, and costs $1600. That might seem reasonable compared to the $1000 iPhone 16 Pro, but if you look at the spec sheet it's clear that it's closer to a $100 phone than a flagship. That's not a 20% premium, that's over 1000% premium.
It is not really a fair comparison between an iPhone and the Librem because the Librem is catering for a completely different market.
The phone itself is quite different in some respect to other mobile phones e.g. parts of the phone that would be on the SoC are on removable M.2 cards. It is a niche product, meant for a particular audience. You are going to be paying a premium even if it was manufactured in offshore.
I pay a premium on any add-on/upgrade card to my Amiga. These products are made in smaller batches and thus cost a lot more than simply getting an ARM chip and emulating it. I accept that because my use case is extremely niche.
This is my opinion as well, not knowing OP, but getting to know myself well enough. And by looking at other loud minorities on the internet, like the "don't preorder video games" crowd. I doubt the companies ever noticed the difference financially.
It's actually funny how I feel the opposite right now since a few months ago. And I'm not saying one way is wrong, the other way is right, but it's funny how quickly one can be polarized (me in this scenario) in a very short period of time.
I worked for a company that sourced all custom built assembly parts with-in the US state it was started in. PCBs and enclosures. After Texas VCs bought they company, they shipped it all overseas to Asia. Those proud patriots did anything they could to save a buck and maximize their own profits.
This year I learned they are maximizing their profits again and close in the branch that handles assembly and shipping. Moving to a more economic location to save a buck.
Your ideology goes against the nature of greed for those that have money and use it to maximize their own profits and harming those that help start and drive the business.
